Health Science Center research to punctuate Hispanic nurses conference

SAN ANTONIO (July 17, 2009) – When the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) convenes in San Antonio for its 34th Annual Conference next week, several School of Nursing faculty from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio will play lead roles. The conference, “Creating Pathways to Reduce Health Disparities,” is July 21-24 at the Crowne Plaza Riverwalk Hotel, 111 Pecan St. East.

Norma Martinez Rogers, Ph.D., R.N., associate clinical professor of family nursing in the UT Health Science Center’s School of Nursing, is NAHN’s president. Dr. Rogers, a Fellow of the American College of Nursing (F.A.A.N.), grew up in San Antonio and is active in efforts to recruit and retain Hispanic students at the Health Science Center School of Nursing.

Hispanics represent only 2 percent of the U.S. nurse workforce. “We believe one of the best ways to eliminate Hispanic health disparities is to increase the representation of Hispanics in professional nursing,” Dr. Martinez Rogers said.

Conference topics include Hispanic health disparities, Hispanic health care research, policy development, issues related to rural Hispanic health care, and behavioral and social environmental issues affecting the health of Hispanics.

UT Health Science Center at San Antonio presenters’ topics

• Mi Decisión-PCa: a prostate cancer decision aid for Latino men; Lorrie Powel, Ph.D., R.N.;

• cultural influences on violence in Hispanic and non-Hispanic men’s intimate relationships; Christina Wei, R.N., M.S.N.;

• Beyond Bars: a program for federal female offenders, Susan Moore and Corrina Laureles;

• dating violence among Latino and Anglo college students; Gail Williams, Ph.D., R.N.;

• advancing retention of minority pre-nursing students in nursing school; Herlinda Zamora, M.S.N., R.N.;

• violence and pregnancy in Chile and Mexico; Jane Dimmit Champion, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N.; and

• human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and raising awareness about protecting young Hispanic women from cervical cancer; Margit Gerardi, Ph.D.

Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros will speak at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. He was secretary of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department during the Clinton administration.

The conference is for nurses, nurse educators, clinicians, social workers, psychologists, licensed professional counselors, students and others who work with the Hispanic community.

Keynote speakers from the nursing profession will include sisters Carol and Carolyn Bloch of Los Angeles, Calif., registered nurses who are certified as trans-cultural nurse specialists and in diversity management/customer service, and Geraldine Bednash, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., chief executive officer and executive director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Conference sponsors are the UT Health Science Center, University Health System, Our Lady of the Lake University, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health Care, the Advance for Nurses publication, the Arizona State University College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation, the William F. Connell School of Nursing at Boston College, the U.S. Army and the United Health Group.

For more information about the conference, visit http://www.thehispanicnurses.org/.

Note: On the conference’s opening day, Bexar County Commissioners Court will declare “National Association of Hispanic Nurses Week.” Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Adkisson will present the proclamation at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 21, in the Bexar County Courthouse Commissioners Courtroom, 100 Dolorosa.

 

 

 
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $668 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $16.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $36 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 25,600 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.



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